Sometimes its not easy being a Philadelphia sports fan. It’s never easy being a Philadelphia sports fan in the city of Pittsburgh. I grew up in Northeast Philadelphia, as close to the suburbs while still being considered in the city limits as you get. At age eight, our family moved ten minutes to the other side of the Welcome to Philadelphia sign entering the suburban upper-middle class community of Huntingdon Valley.
After high school graduation, I wanted to go to school as far away as possible, while still living in the state to get good financial aid. I choose the University of Pittsburgh. Moving from the east coast to the east with no coast was a big change for me, geographically and culturally. Before moving out to Pittsburgh, I really didn’t know anything about Pittsburgh sports teams. I had no animosity towards the Steelers when they played the Eagles. Of course, I wanted the Eagles to win but it was just another game to me. They were just another opponent. Growing up a Philadelphia fan, we have never liked the Giants, Cowboys and Redskins. These three teams have always been bitter rivals of the Eagles playing them in the NFC East twice a year. In Philadelphia, there has never been hatred for the Steelers because they are in the AFC.
When I moved to Pittsburgh, I quickly realized the Eagles, Phillies, Flyers, and even the Sixers (Pittsburgh has no professional basketball team) were despised with a passion. My first thought was that Pittsburgh fans hated every team in every sport spread around equally. I was wrong. Some days at Pitt, I wished to be a New England Patriots or Denver Broncos fan. The stares I got for wearing a ten dollar Eagles hat or a Flyers jersey from my friends 1998 Bar-Mitzvah with my last name printed on the back was verging on hostile.
Before this story goes further, let me just say I love living in Pittsburgh. Now, up to this point this statement might seem contradictory. I have been a resident here now for six years. The last two years since I graduated, I have lived in the Southside which has been great. It has everything a 23 year old would want with bars, restaurants, shopping, grocery stores, and a movie theatre. That’s why this is hard to write. However, on the cusp of my Flyers reaching the Stanley Cup and the anger Pittsburgh fans have displayed to Philadelphia on the radio and to me at work propelled me to write about it.
What Pittsburgh fans don’t understand is that Philadelphia is not that different when it comes to our sports teams. We both expect our teams to play hard and fight to the end. We expect our teams to win, and if you’re not giving 100 % as a player, you will hear it from the fans. Both cities are hard-working, blue-collar towns. It’s tough when even saying the word Philly in Pittsburgh is grounds for alienation and isolation. Pittsburgh fans love to say, “Why do you live here if you don’t like the Steelers and Penguins?” No question could be more narrow-minded and immature. People from Philly are here for school, work, and many other reasons. It’s an uncomfortable feeling when you’re afraid to walk your dog at night wearing a Flyers or Eagles jersey. The fear of getting verbally abused and physically abused supporting Philadelphia sports in constantly on my mind.
Every time I go home to Philly for a long weekend, I see Steelers fans wearing their gear at the gym, in the supermarket, and at the local Starbucks. No one cares. No Eagles fan walks up to a Steelers fan while their ordering their mochaccino and verbally abuses them. It just doesn’t happen. It could be that people in Philly have more going on then just their sports teams. I really don’t know. I do know that Philly fans are passionate. Someone can be passionate about their city and sports teams and respectful of other people at the same time. Is it fair that if you’re from Philadelphia and reside in Pittsburgh a stigma automatically comes with that even if you’re not into sports? I love Pittsburgh, but it would be nice if Pittsburgh loved people from Philly back.
Friday, May 28, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
DOES CHARACTER MATTER IN SPORTS?
Does Character matter? As long as their have been professional sports, there has been this question. Does an owner build a franchise with a player that has questionable character issues and tremendous natural ability or a player who is a role model for the community, but still needs to be groomed for the professional ranks. A pertinent example of this was a few weeks ago during the 2010 NFL Draft. Everybody knew the story about Tim Tebow; the national championships at Florida, the Heisman on his mantel. He’s done it all at the college level, but his mechanics and unorthodox style have always begged the question: Can Tim Tebow be a starting quarterback in the NFL. The coach of the Denver broncos Josh McDaniel’s thinks he can.
“With the 25th pick in the NFL draft, the Denver broncos select Tim Tebow, quarterback out of the university of Florida”. When Commissioner Roger Goodell said those words, the hundreds packed in at Madison square garden and the millions of viewers at home were stunned. More shocking than the Broncos picking Tim Tebow in the first round is that they already had Kyle Orten and newly acquired Brady Quinn from Cleveland. League sources said that Tebow was picked by the Broncos because of a fifteen minute meeting between McDaniel’s and the two-time national champion. What was said in McDaniel’s office we might never know, but what we do know is Tebow must have made one hell of an impression. An impression so mesmerizing that with two other quarterbacks already on his roster and defensive needs, the second year head coach went with a side-arm slingling, run-first, three to four year project. Coach McDaniel’s saw something you can’t teach; intangibles and character. Tebow possesses a willingness to do whatever it takes to get better.
Even with winning national championships and a Heisman trophy, Tebow is willing to admit he still has plenty of work to do to be a successful quarterback in the NFL. He’s humble and hungry to improve. Even when John Gruden grilled him on his playing style during a SportsCenter draft special, Tebow didn’t falter. He responded with yes sirs and did everything that was asked of him during Gruden’s drills. This display of respect alone showed how different a breed of football player this young man is and now people were starting to understand why McDaniel’s had to take Tebow. Today more than ever with twitter feeds and facebook, scandals of professional athletes no matter how small spread across the social media landscape like wildfire. Blemishes are almost expected for most athletes in the sports world. Blemishes don’t exist for Tebow. He hasn’t been corrupted by the money and fame that comes with the NFL job to this point and it doesn’t seem like that day will ever come to pass. He treats the NFL as an opportunity to give back.
Most avid sports fans watching the draft thought Jimmy Clausen’s name was going to be called on the first day of the draft and definitely ahead of Tim Tebow. As the first day of the draft came to an end, the quarterback from Florida went ahead of the one from Notre Dame. Clausen has plenty of talent, arguably a lot more than Tebow. He ran an offense at Notre Dame very similar to an NFL style. His numbers this past season, 28 touchdowns and 4 interceptions were unmatched in college football. So why did Clausen’s stock drop? Scouts said character issues. Clausen was projected by most to be a top ten pick in the draft. He went 48th.
On the field, Clausen didn’t always demonstrate leadership intangibles that a starting collegiate quarterback needs to possess and a few off the field incidents cost him. On June 23, 2007, Clausen was cited for illegal transportation of alcohol in South Bend, Indiana. He was driving someone who was of legal drinking age to a liquor store to buy alcohol. Then, on November 22, 2009, Clausen was involved in an altercation outside of a South Bend pub. It was reported that upon his departure, Clausen was punched in the face outside of the pub. A later report of this incident indicated that the other subject involved in this incident allegedly shoved Clausen's girlfriend. It was reported that Clausen then shoved the subject away prior to Clausen being punched. These altercations, seemingly small, cost Clausen life changing top ten pick money. He will have to start from the bottom up in the NFL, having to work everyday to improve his reputation and to become a leader in the eyes of the players and coaches in Carolina.
Character matters.
“With the 25th pick in the NFL draft, the Denver broncos select Tim Tebow, quarterback out of the university of Florida”. When Commissioner Roger Goodell said those words, the hundreds packed in at Madison square garden and the millions of viewers at home were stunned. More shocking than the Broncos picking Tim Tebow in the first round is that they already had Kyle Orten and newly acquired Brady Quinn from Cleveland. League sources said that Tebow was picked by the Broncos because of a fifteen minute meeting between McDaniel’s and the two-time national champion. What was said in McDaniel’s office we might never know, but what we do know is Tebow must have made one hell of an impression. An impression so mesmerizing that with two other quarterbacks already on his roster and defensive needs, the second year head coach went with a side-arm slingling, run-first, three to four year project. Coach McDaniel’s saw something you can’t teach; intangibles and character. Tebow possesses a willingness to do whatever it takes to get better.
Even with winning national championships and a Heisman trophy, Tebow is willing to admit he still has plenty of work to do to be a successful quarterback in the NFL. He’s humble and hungry to improve. Even when John Gruden grilled him on his playing style during a SportsCenter draft special, Tebow didn’t falter. He responded with yes sirs and did everything that was asked of him during Gruden’s drills. This display of respect alone showed how different a breed of football player this young man is and now people were starting to understand why McDaniel’s had to take Tebow. Today more than ever with twitter feeds and facebook, scandals of professional athletes no matter how small spread across the social media landscape like wildfire. Blemishes are almost expected for most athletes in the sports world. Blemishes don’t exist for Tebow. He hasn’t been corrupted by the money and fame that comes with the NFL job to this point and it doesn’t seem like that day will ever come to pass. He treats the NFL as an opportunity to give back.
Most avid sports fans watching the draft thought Jimmy Clausen’s name was going to be called on the first day of the draft and definitely ahead of Tim Tebow. As the first day of the draft came to an end, the quarterback from Florida went ahead of the one from Notre Dame. Clausen has plenty of talent, arguably a lot more than Tebow. He ran an offense at Notre Dame very similar to an NFL style. His numbers this past season, 28 touchdowns and 4 interceptions were unmatched in college football. So why did Clausen’s stock drop? Scouts said character issues. Clausen was projected by most to be a top ten pick in the draft. He went 48th.
On the field, Clausen didn’t always demonstrate leadership intangibles that a starting collegiate quarterback needs to possess and a few off the field incidents cost him. On June 23, 2007, Clausen was cited for illegal transportation of alcohol in South Bend, Indiana. He was driving someone who was of legal drinking age to a liquor store to buy alcohol. Then, on November 22, 2009, Clausen was involved in an altercation outside of a South Bend pub. It was reported that upon his departure, Clausen was punched in the face outside of the pub. A later report of this incident indicated that the other subject involved in this incident allegedly shoved Clausen's girlfriend. It was reported that Clausen then shoved the subject away prior to Clausen being punched. These altercations, seemingly small, cost Clausen life changing top ten pick money. He will have to start from the bottom up in the NFL, having to work everyday to improve his reputation and to become a leader in the eyes of the players and coaches in Carolina.
Character matters.
Monday, April 26, 2010
GREEN JOBS: THE NEW ECONOMY
Now with the health care bill passed, the economy is again the number one issue on everyone’s minds. People want to know when the economy will pick up again. People used to come to America in droves because it was the land of opportunity. America was a place where people could have a better life for themselves with hard work and drive. The American dream today has changed. The jobs people came to America to seek has gone overseas to people who will work long hours, for barely any pay. America is powerless unless we change how we operate. Our economy is different now. There is a global economy that we have to compete against. This is a horse race and we haven’t even left the gate.
We must start with energy independence. We have the resources in America to be able and sustain ourselves. With energy independence, there would be no need to be fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once weapons of mass destruction were not found, we continued to fight for one reason in my opinion: oil. We think we need something from these countries so we stay there in pursuit of their resource. We should be focusing our billions of dollars poured into a war and use it to explore our own countries wind, solar, bio-fuel, and natural gas power. These are some of the building blocks for a more secure, stable, and lower carbon energy future.
Green Jobs are the key to bringing our country back to a real global power economically again. Right now there are white collar jobs and blue collar jobs. It’s time to add another sector to this group with green collar jobs. People who have green collar jobs are able to save our environment and make a good living doing it. This can be the salvation for the middle class that is disappearing everyday. We can revitalize the shrinking middle class by educating people in green technologies that will save our planet from climate change (an issue for another day) and bring our country out of debt. We have to provide training that will turn blue-collar 20th century jobs into 21st century green collar jobs. In 2006, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies generated 8.5 million new jobs and nearly 970 billion in revenue.
We are at a crossroads unlike ever before in our nations history. People are still getting laid off in records numbers, the housing market remains weak, college graduates aren’t guaranteed anything but their diploma, and the stock market is fragile.
Over the next few weeks, Congress is going to attempt to pass financial regulation so that companies like Goldman Sachs can’t scam people out of their money for its own financial gain. In the mean time, the American people need to be creative and work with this administration to put the pieces in place to provide education and training for green jobs. Putting regulations on the greed of Wall Street is part of the solution to the problem, but not the entire solution. Employers are and still will be afraid to hire workers in the months ahead. The pool of jobs that was supposed to be available for my generation fresh out of college has all but dried up. The baby-boomers who were about to retire now have to work more years to recover money lost out of their pensions and 401k. The 10 percent unemployed, the thousands of people who were reduced to part-time work, and college grads who can’t find work can take a stand. We can say enough. The phrase “Going-green” is thrown around a lot, but its importance can not be overlooked. Going green can save our middle-class and bring our country back to prosperity.
We must start with energy independence. We have the resources in America to be able and sustain ourselves. With energy independence, there would be no need to be fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Once weapons of mass destruction were not found, we continued to fight for one reason in my opinion: oil. We think we need something from these countries so we stay there in pursuit of their resource. We should be focusing our billions of dollars poured into a war and use it to explore our own countries wind, solar, bio-fuel, and natural gas power. These are some of the building blocks for a more secure, stable, and lower carbon energy future.
Green Jobs are the key to bringing our country back to a real global power economically again. Right now there are white collar jobs and blue collar jobs. It’s time to add another sector to this group with green collar jobs. People who have green collar jobs are able to save our environment and make a good living doing it. This can be the salvation for the middle class that is disappearing everyday. We can revitalize the shrinking middle class by educating people in green technologies that will save our planet from climate change (an issue for another day) and bring our country out of debt. We have to provide training that will turn blue-collar 20th century jobs into 21st century green collar jobs. In 2006, renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies generated 8.5 million new jobs and nearly 970 billion in revenue.
We are at a crossroads unlike ever before in our nations history. People are still getting laid off in records numbers, the housing market remains weak, college graduates aren’t guaranteed anything but their diploma, and the stock market is fragile.
Over the next few weeks, Congress is going to attempt to pass financial regulation so that companies like Goldman Sachs can’t scam people out of their money for its own financial gain. In the mean time, the American people need to be creative and work with this administration to put the pieces in place to provide education and training for green jobs. Putting regulations on the greed of Wall Street is part of the solution to the problem, but not the entire solution. Employers are and still will be afraid to hire workers in the months ahead. The pool of jobs that was supposed to be available for my generation fresh out of college has all but dried up. The baby-boomers who were about to retire now have to work more years to recover money lost out of their pensions and 401k. The 10 percent unemployed, the thousands of people who were reduced to part-time work, and college grads who can’t find work can take a stand. We can say enough. The phrase “Going-green” is thrown around a lot, but its importance can not be overlooked. Going green can save our middle-class and bring our country back to prosperity.
Health care reform
This is my first time ever writing on a blog. There have been things on my chest that I just need to get out, and being on the cusp of health care reform I thought this was the appropriate time. We live in a time where the country couldn’t be more split. We have just witnessed the biggest legislative occurrence in 4 decades. Only being 23, I try to put that in perspective. It's difficult.You wouldn’t think that giving health care to 32 million people who are uninsured would take four decades. The sad thing is that health care reform has been discussed since the other Roosevelt was in office. The dream for millions who can’t afford health care or whom were denied because of pre-existing conditions will be no more. Insurance companies were more concerned with their bottom line and stockholders than the people whom they are supposed to serve.Even with the most powerful man in the free world putting his John Hancock with 20 different Washington pens on this bill, 13 attorney generals and every republican is still fighting to have the bill deemed unconstitutional. I’m young and may be naïve with politics, but I always thought that federal law trumped state law. I admit that I am a big supporter of obama but not a fan. The fan of obama loves him because he’s young, hip, plays basketball, and fills out his March madness bracket on espn. A supporter is someone who cheers for obama because he’s truly changed the culture in Washington. He’s a man of the people in every sense. You can start by just looking at the state he’s from, Chicago. Chicago is a place I would actually go and visit. Who would visit Midland Texas or Hope, Arkansas? I think the appeal at least for me is that we can relate to this president. He’s a father raising two young girls, he seems to still be having sex regularly with his wife and with today’s divorce rate, just being married and miserable is rare.There have been people since obama was running for office who opposed him and that is going to happen. You had people like Joe the plumber (doesn’t actually have a plumbing license) speaking out against obama on the campaign trail saying things like he doesn’t want his business affected (doesn’t have a real business). And who wants a muslin from Kenya who isn’t even a U.S. citizen in office? Sometimes it’s hard with so many different media outlets throwing garbage around to get their views and agendas across. I get that there are lobbyist who work around the clock to make sure big agendas don’t get carried out. Washington is all red tape and for obama to be able and at least rip some of the tape off the walls is an monumental accomplishment. So, the appeal for obama is clear and the absolute hatred for obama by the status quo is clear.The people who have been in power know there’s been a change in Washington and they do not like it. When republicans say they wanted to “start over” with the health care bill, what does that really mean. I think it means that they want to delay it as much as possible, preferring to have it never happen. The status quo like how things are. The status quo doesn’t mind that 45,000 people die everyday because they don’t have medical coverage. A change needed to happen and Tuesday at 11:30 am, the beginning of change finally came. The bill isn’t perfect, as the ones writing it aren’t, but this is a gigantic step in the right direction. The status quo is obviously not sustainable and through all the bureaucracy, debates, and town hall meetings, one thing is undeniably clear: lives will be saved everyday from this bill. Hopefully, when the mid-term elections come around, people will realize the ones who pushed the bill past, didn’t do it for political gain, but because as obama said “it was the right thing to do”.
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